The data speaks for itself.
It turns out that it is easier and faster to arrive in Israel as a refugee who is not entitled to the Law of Return than as a new immigrant.
The state of the Jewish people has opened its gates to Ukrainian citizens fleeing wherever they are, while in the countries bordering Ukraine more than 10,000 people are waiting for immigration visas.
From the outbreak of the war until yesterday afternoon, 7,437 Ukrainian refugees were absorbed into Israel without the Law of Return.
In contrast, only 3,695 immigrants from Ukraine immigrated to Israel under the Eligibility Law.
That is, for every new immigrant from Ukraine, Israel absorbed two Ukrainian refugees.
All this, while about 10,000 refugees from the Jewish communities of Ukraine live on luggage in Poland, Romania, Hungary and Moldova - some in harsh conditions in refugee centers - and are waiting for permission to immigrate to Israel.
In addition, at least another 5,000 Jewish refugees from Ukraine continued on to Western European countries, mainly to Germany, and chose not to immigrate to Israel in the meantime;
Some are due to the long wait for immigration permits, and others - due to the conditions and grants offered by Germany.
The expedited procedure
These numbers were compiled on the basis of data from the Jewish Agency, collected from about 7,000 refugees from the Jewish communities in Ukraine, currently staying in 18 different hotels rented by the agency in Poland, Hungary, Romania and Moldova - and based on data collected in Moldova and Romania regarding 3,000 Jewish refugees in facilities. Judaism, the JDC and the Friendship Foundation.
Refugees at a train station in Ukraine // Reporter: Avi Cohen, Photo: Yehuda Peretz
Only four days ago, the State of Israel understood the situation, and following pressure from the Jewish Agency and the aliyah organizations, it was decided to launch "Aliya Express," which includes facilitating route checks to obtain eligibility.
A full eligibility check for each family's immigration takes about an hour.
The policy change stipulates that instead of checking on the whole family, Nativ representatives find out if there is a first-degree relative in the country, if they have already clearly started eligibility in the past or if one of the children participated in "noble", "journey" or "discovery" programs.
If the answer is yes, the family members will receive a permit to enter Israel.
Such a process takes a quarter of an hour instead of an hour.
Upon arrival in Israel, the refugees receive health insurance and are housed by the Home Front Command and the Ministry of Absorption at the hotel for two weeks.
During these two weeks, Nativ representatives continue to verify eligibility, and only then grant them the status and conditions of new immigrants.
"We went under the stretcher, and it was decided that Jewish Agency staff would also assist Nativ in the initial inspection process," says Jewish Agency VP and Director of Operations Ukraine Yehuda Stone. "Four of our people have already arrived in Moldova to try to free the bottleneck there.
In Poland we managed to reach a state of balance, where the rate of entry of Jewish refugees is equal to the rate of immigrants.
In Poland, most Jewish refugees immigrate within 72 hours to a week at most.
In Romania the rate of immigration was too low, and people also waited two weeks for immigration.
I hope that now, with the new model of Aliyah Express and the addition of two consuls, the situation in Romania will improve. "
In Hungary, Stone adds, "there are slightly more Jewish refugees coming in than those leaving, and at the beginning of next week we will increase the rate there as well. In Moldova there is a very large gap between the rate of entry and the rate of departure, "I hope that the name of the new model will also improve the situation - or that people will move to Romania in the meantime, where we can provide them with more comfortable living conditions in hotels we have rented than those that exist in some of the refugee centers in Moldova."
Refugees from Ukraine on their way to Romania (archive), Photo: Reuters
At the beginning of the war, the Israeli consul in Moldova issued permits at a rate of 30 immigration visas a day.
Following the wave of Jewish refugees and the shortage of accommodation in Chisinau, the system was intensified - and three consuls were able to issue about 90 permits a day.
Following the additional relief, the pace has reached 150 visas a day in recent days.
"It is still not enough. We are constantly receiving more and more refugees whose situation is more difficult, especially the elderly," says Uri Livshitz, who coordinates the absorption of Jewish refugees in the Agudat Israel synagogue in Chisinau. "I can not understand how the State of Israel managed thousands of Jews. .
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